Atom & Cosmos

Topic Image Rail

LYING IN WAIT Huge tubs of water (one shown) at the Pierre Auger Observatory in Argentina reveal the tracks left as cosmic particles zip through them.

Steven Saffi

BLAZE OF GLORY Cassini burned up like a comet above Saturn’s cloud tops just before 5 a.m. PDT on September 15. This artist’s illustration shows what it may have looked like.

JPL-Caltech/NASA

The Cassini spacecraft took one final round of images on its farewell tour of the Saturnian system. This raw image, taken September 13 and received on Earth on September 14, showcases Saturn’s hallmark rings.

All about aliens

New telescopes and spacecraft will soon help researchers scour our galaxy for signs of extraterrestrial life. But what might aliens look like? And if they do exist, why haven’t they returned our calls? These are just some of the questions addressed in the Science News special report “In Search of Aliens” (SN: 4/30/16, p. 24).